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None of our border collies do this. BUT! One of our dogs from the sled team, who is a rescue, wouldn't eat for a while if you didn't stand there. But bit by bit he got over it. Now he eats just fine.

 

I will try to post the sled team photo. Little Cap the sheep dog running with my lead dog.

 

This was the dogs across America event.

 

The three wheeler doesn't run.

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I free feed, the dogs that want to eat, eat. The ones that don't, don't.

 

ETA: BTW, when I first go Holly and made her "pen" in the hall way, I always fed her there. Now that she is out all the time except at night or when I am gone, her food and water bowl is still there and used. Funny thing is, when she wants a drink, 90% of the time she will go to "her" water dish. Same thing with the food. And the other dogs NEVER bother with her food or water. Kinda weird, but it works. LOL

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Hi everyone!

 

Just a question out of curiousity really. Our Ed won't eat on his own. We have to be in the same room or at least in sight or he just will not eat! :D Anyone else have the same situation?

 

xx

 

LOL! Scooter does the same thing! He waits patiently for us to sit down at the table, then and only then he will eat. I know all the books and dog experts say we as Alphas are to eat first, then the dog, but the way I see it, that's what's happening. He's a very social dog too. I think he enjoys having the family together for meals! :rolleyes:

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Daisy started doing something similar about 6 months ago (I used to free feed her). She would hover over her dish once we filled it, but if we walked away, she would follow. If we turned around to go back into the direction of the food, she would run to the dish, repeat about 4 or 5 times and then she would finaly eat. Now, I'm not sure to this day if it was a weird sort of game she was playing or the beginnings of resource gaurding. I won't take the chance.

 

What I did first was put her on a schedule. Feed 2 times a day and dish is taken away once done eating. I had to put warm water on the food at the beginning to get her to eat it right away as she's always been a picky eater. She must sit and wait for the "ok" to eat. Now she eats right away and I don't even have to tell her to wait anymore, she just does. I've only done this since I didn't want her actions to turn into gaurding issues, but I don't think this is your problem. Maybe he just feels more comfortable to eat when you are there. But if you want to encourage him to eat, make it appealing. (A table spoon of warm water on 3/4 c of food makes quite the gravy apparently!)

 

j

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It sounds like this is as good a time as any to admit: we usually eat on our laps or on the floor. So when we first got Skye (and our first Riley for that matter) the rule was, if its on the ground (or close to a dog's nose), its not necessarily fair game unless we say so. Consequently Skye usually has to wait for at least 2 oks before she'll eat. And if she gets a nice treat from DH, she often waits until I get home to eat it. Don't know what that's about!

 

Of course none of this applied to the time I left half a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts in a bag by the front door. And boy, I was really looking forward to them!!! We only just started getting them in Canada. Hmmmmm, sugar......

Ailsa

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Our dog Sky has the weirdest relationship with food ... I've given up worrying about it. Tried feeding 2x/day, but she won't eat in the morning. So around dinner time I put out her food. If you stand by the bowl, she will not come over. When you walk away, depending on how hungry she is, she might sneak over, and I mean sneak, low to the ground, very hesitant, to take a sniff. She looks like someone who suspects she is being poisoned this time for sure. If it's something she really likes she will eat a few little bites. Mostly she just runs away and finds a chewie or something, which she will bring to the table when we eat. (Tried putting the bowl close by the table, too, no good).

 

Then later at some point she will go and eat. And run away, and go back a bit later, and so forth. It drove me nuts for months, but nothing worked. If you take the food away after say 30 minutes, she doesn't care. She gets Evo Red Meat Little Bites with a few tablespoons of canned. She seems to like it, once she gets around to eating ... but this little game of "is it poisoned or not" plays out basically every day.

 

She won't touch her food at all, if we are not in the house. I think she kind of likes us to be in the same room, but you can't watch her eating, then it's all over. :rolleyes:

 

How I wished I knew what kind of a life our dog had before we adopted her .... might explain some of that strange eating behavior.

 

Andrea

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How I wished I knew what kind of a life our dog had before we adopted her .... might explain some of that strange eating behavior.

 

That might very well be. On the other hand, the neat thing about dogs is that they rarely require psychotherapy :rolleyes: It's been so long since I had a dog who didn't fall on his food like a starved wolf, that I'm always a little surprised by these stories. My (cold hearted) approach is if they're truly hungry, they'll eat eventually. Maybe not that day, but soon enough.

 

I did have a picky eater at one time and he free fed until I got a second dog when that no longer remained an option. But he had a hard time eating regular meals. So what I did was sweeten the deal a bit. I'd mix a few dabs of wet food in with his kibble and put him somewhere by himself for 15 minutes. He usually ate everything up that way. This was especially helpful when he was old and senile. My being there or not being there was never the issue. He was just oddly picky. Maybe if Sky ate in a crate or some similar set up, she'd be more likely to focus on the task at hand?

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Both Ben and Winston want me to be nearby when they eat. If I walk off, they will follow rather than stay and eat. Ben has separation anxiety and this behavior becomes more pronounced if he is stressed (new dog, new place, etc). Interestingly, Ben isn't as bad if John or Andy feed him but he is worse with me.

 

Winston thinks that food is very important but that staying with me is more important. I think his behavior will probably change as he becomes more confident. The girls couldn't care less what happened to me while they were eating.

 

I don't feed until I can be in the same room or I crate the dogs. Otherwise the girls will eat all of the boys food.

 

Lisa

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Cody is the exact opposite! If I hover or work in the laundry room when I put his food on the floor there, he either waits until I'm gone from the room, or he'll leave the room and come back to eat the food once I've left.

 

I cannot get him to eat while I'm in there. And sometimes, between putting in a new load of laundry, sorting/folding laundry, etc. it can be 10-15 minutes that he's waiting!

 

I've even tried to trick him, to leave and then kind of sneak back in. But as soon as he sees me, he stops eating. He doesn't growl, he doesn't do anything. He just stops eating and watches me, then will walk away from the food.

 

Amazing.

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Cody is the exact opposite! If I hover or work in the laundry room when I put his food on the floor there, he either waits until I'm gone from the room, or he'll leave the room and come back to eat the food once I've left.

 

Interesting! I had a super shy Sheltie who didn't care about my whereabouts as he ate but the first time I left him with a house sitter, she had to go into the basement before he'd eat his dinner. :rolleyes:

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"she had to go into the basement before he'd eat his dinner"

 

Liz, I think your dog wins! :D

 

Are you sure dogs don't need psychotherapy??? Sky could use some here or there. :rolleyes:

 

When my friend's dog stayed with us, she ate her food really fast one day, and then tried to get his. Aaah, I thought. But the next day it was back to good old funny eating. And then last week for example she refused to eat at all one day .. don't know why, and the next she gobbled up everything in under 1 minute ... ???? As I said, I stopped worrying about it. She doesn't like the crate anymore, since she is so well behaved and hasn't been in one for so long. I think it would add to more eating problems ...

 

They are a piece of work, aren't they? :D

 

Andrea

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